Now You're Just Somebody That I Used To Know
by Amrywiol
Summary: A few years after the end of Season 6, a man walks into an airport bar. (As it's come up in comments, I'll note there is background Jeff/Britta & Annie/OC going on, but neither Britta nor the OC feature in the story.)


_**Disclaimer: I don't own community, sorry.**_

 _ **Author's note:**_ _I was having a bit of writer's block when working on "And Everything Goes Back To The Beginning" when "Now You're Just Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye came up on my YouTube feed, and I got this idea for a post Season 6 story and I couldn't let go of it until I wrote it down. The verses in italics are lyrics from the song._

 _It definitely isn't a "they get back together" story, sorry._

Now You're Just Somebody That I Used To Know

(Denver International Airport)

A man walks into an airport bar. He's in his mid forties but wearing it well, and discreetly but expensively dressed in a sober suit and tie. He orders a Scotch - neat, but with a small jug of water on the side, and the barmaid smiles at him with slightly more than professional interest. He smiles back, thanks her for the drink, but doesn't pursue things further. He turns around and scans the other customers with idle curiosity - people like him for the most part, filling in an hour or two while waiting for their flights to be called. As his eyes scan the room, they fall on a woman. She's probably in her late twenties, maybe thirty or so. She has shoulder length dark hair and is wearing a sober black skirt suit. His eyes are about to move on when she turns around and he can get a better look at her face and he realises that he knows her - or rather that he did, a lifetime ago.

XXXXXX

 _You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness -_

 _Like resignation to the end, always the end._

 _So when we found that we could not make sense,_

 _Well you said that we would still be friends,_

 _But I'll admit that I was glad that it was over._

XXXXXX

He's about to turn away, pretend he never saw her, when she spots him and her eyes open wide and she waves. Of all the the things about her, it's her eyes he remembers most and so almost against his will, he finds himself putting a smile on his face and walking over to her table. She stands up as he approaches and puts a slightly uncertain smile on her own face - briefly, and slightly hesitantly, they hug and separate again.

"Hi Jeff," She says.

"Special Agent Edison." He says with a smile.

"Really, Jeff?" She raises an eyebrow and half smiles in that way that always used to make him melt a little. Used to.

He smiles again anyway. "It's been a while, Annie. What brings you back to this neck of the woods?"

"I've been interviewing a witness in connection with an upcoming federal case, now I've got what I need and I'm on my way back to DC. What about you? You're not dressed like a college lecturer."

He smiles for real, this time. "I'm practising law again." She looks delighted for him. "I need to go to L.A. to interview an expert witness in a product liability case I'm assisting on."

"That's great news, Jeff - how did that happen?" _The last time I saw you, you looked like you were going to rot in that place forever._

"It probably wouldn't surprise you to hear that Greendale tended to get sued fairly often?" She smiles, shakes her head. "Well, Frankie had the idea it was a waste of money to pay for outside counsel when they had a licensed lawyer on the staff, so she had me run the defence a few times. I won a couple of cases that really should have been lost, and the firms suing us noticed. I started to get offers of consultancy work, won more of those than I should have too, and got more work as a result. Now I have enough work to keep me busy, and in sharp suits -" He gestures to his torso with a smile, she smiles back "- it's less certain that being on the payroll, but I get to pick my own clients."

She nods. "I remember being there when you grew a conscience Jeff, when that became important to you." He raises his glass in an ironic salute.

"To Greendale," he says.

"Greendale." She responds, equally ironically.

"I still teach a class there." He adds thoughtfully. "But it's because I want to now, not because I've got no choice if I want to keep a roof over my head. I'm not a failure any more, Annie." There's more feeling in that than he intended for to be, it shocks him slightly how important it still is that this woman respects him.

"You were never a failure to me, Jeff." He suspects there's more politeness than truth in her voice.

"Yes I was Annie, we all were - you were right to leave Greendale when you did, before we dragged you down with us. It would just have been nice if -" he comes to a halt.

XXXXXX

 _But you didn't have to cut me off_

 _Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing_

XXXXXX

Annie's mind flashed briefly back to the last time they were all together, it had been the week after her internship finished and before she started at Quantico, when she'd returned to Greendale to sort a few things out. It had been a happy moment, full of promises to stay in touch.

"I'm sorry Jeff," her smile has gone, a certain sadness is in it's place. "I never meant for it to be so long - Quantico was far harder than I expected, then as soon as I graduated I was assigned to the taskforce -"

"Ah yes," He says. "Are you still not allowed to talk about it?"

She smiles, shakes her head. "then when that got wound up I was assigned to the the FBI office in Portland. Maine!" She shakes her head again, in mild exasperation. "And when I finally did get some time to spare I realised over two years had gone by and I was afraid of what you'd say about how long it had been if I had got in touch."

"However long it was, we would always have been happy to see you Annie."

She nods. "And besides, I was in a relationship and wanted to spend my free time with Tom."

Jeff looks at her left hand, he sees with a certain abstract melancholy there's a ring on her third finger, it's gold and has a diamond on it. "I hope he's worthy of you." He says firmly. She reaches into her purse, pulls out a picture and passes it over to him. Jeff sees a young man with an easy smile and a full head of dark hair.

"He's my age, smart, funny, and acts like he's the luckiest guy in the world for being with me." She smiles fondly.

"He is." Jeff says with deep certainty. Annie looks up at him sharply.

XXXXXX

 _Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over_

 _But had me believing it was always something that I'd done_

 _But I don't wanna live that way_

 _Reading into every word you say_

 _You said that you could let it go_

 _And I wouldn't catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know_

XXXXXX

"There was a time when it could have been you, you know." She says while looking him straight in the eye.

He shakes his head and takes another sip of his drink. "No, it couldn't. When you wanted me, you were too young and innocent. And when I wanted you, you were too wise and mature. If we had tried getting together we would have had fun for a while, but our trajectories were in different directions. We would have split up and ended up hating each other - and I could never bear the thought of you hating me. I'd rather you never thought of me at all than that, so I let you go."

 _Why couldn't you have been this honest when it mattered?_ She thinks to herself. "You didn't let me go - you pushed me away, Jeff."

He nods sadly. "You've always deserved somebody who was worthy of you Annie, and that was never me. I hope your Tom never forgets how lucky he is and always finds new ways of showing it."

Annie decides she wants to change the subject before she gets tears in her eyes - even now Jeff Winger has the power to make her cry. "What about you, Jeff? Are you seeing anyone?"

Jeff smiles. "I have a sort of thing with Britta going on. We drift in and out of each other's lives and places, but I'm always there for her and she's always there for me. Neither of us are strictly exclusive but we always seem to end up back together."

"I wish I could say I was surprised Jeff, but we've both known she was the best fit for you since at least the night of the Tranny Dance." She smiles fondly as she remembers the kiss that followed that conversation that night. Jeff also smiles, thinking of the same thing.

"I know what you mean." He says. "Some people are just meant to be together, even as some are just meant not to be." Annie refuses to let the conversation go back to that place.

"So, what's she doing these days then? Still tending bar?"

"You'd be surprised." Annie raises her eyebrows. "She finally graduated with her therapy qualification a year after you did and started practising. She wasn't terribly successful at first, but one of her early clients was a radio producer who was so taken with her… somewhat unique style he offered her a slot, which became a full length show. She's Greendale's answer to Doctor Phil now."

Annie laughs out loud, a sweet musical laugh the likes of which Jeff hadn't heard for so long. "Good for her. I'm pleased to hear her life has finally come together."

"I'll tell her you said that. I know things weren't easy for you guys towards the end." Jeff looks fondly at her.

"We became different people Jeff, but I remember how close we used to be." _Are you just talking about Britta, or -_ but he closes down that line of thought.

The tannoy makes an announcement. Annie stands up and picks up her bag.

"That's my plane." She said. "It was fun catching up, Jeff. I hope it's not so long next time."

"Me too, Annie." He stands up as well, pulls out his wallet and hands her a business card. Annie pulls one of hers out and gives it to him. "You can get in touch with me here - if nothing else, when you kids set a date I'll expect a wedding invitation."

Annie looks at him with a touch of her old mischievousness in her eyes. "That's a deal Jeff - heck, I may even be asking you to walk me down the aisle."

Jeff shudders good humouredly. "That would be weird for so many reasons." Then he goes serious. "But it would also be a huge honour. Be happy, Annie."

"And you, Jeff." They hug, and it's not tentative or awkward like the first one that evening. They separate.

"Goodbye, Jeff."

"Goodbye, Annie."

She turns and walks away. She doesn't turn around. He stops watching long before she disappears out of sight.

XXXXXX

 _Now and then I think of when we were together,_

 _Like when you said you felt so happy you could die._

 _Told myself that you were right for me,_

 _But felt so lonely in your company,_

 _But that was love and it's an ache I still remember._

 _Now you're just somebody that I used to know._


End file.
